The housing stock across the Borough of Darlington is constantly changing, as new dwellings are being created through conversions or changes of use as well as new builds. As existing dwellings are converted to other uses or in some instances demolished, a picture of net housing stock change can be established.
Housing Flows Reconciliation (HFR)
The government, through the Department of Communities and Local Government, requires all Local Planning Authorities to complete HFR returns on an annual basis. The 2007-08 HFR schedule can be viewed below:
Housing Flows Reconciliation Schedule [PDF - Opens in a new window]
The HFR is important for the monitoring of planning policies at local level when bearing in mind the plan, monitor and manage approach.
From 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008, the Council has been collecting data on housing gains and losses (flows) and the stock in the Borough. These flows include records of new build completions, conversions, changes of use and demolitions as well as the type of dwelling and how many bedrooms are included.
Housing Supply in Darlington
Planning Policy Statement 3 on Housing was published in November 2006 and outlines the Government’s objective of ensuring that the planning system delivers a flexible, responsive supply of land. The statement requires Local Planning Authorities to assess and demonstrate the extent to which existing plans fulfil the requirement to identify and maintain a rolling 5-year supply of deliverable land for housing.
The report demonstrating Darlington’s progress towards showing a 5 year supply against current Regional Spatial Strategy requirements as of 31st March 2008 can be viewed below:
Housing Supply [PDF - opens in new window]
Ongoing monitoring of housing sites will keep the current status under review, as and when the situation changes sufficiently a new report will be published.
Further Info
If you require any further information or would like to view statistics from previous years, please e-mail planning.policy@darlington.gov.uk or telephone (01325) 388644.